I (Frank Vera) am the owner and operator of the website, Facebook groups, and Newsletter “George AFB – HTRW.” The members of George AFB – HTRW are a loose-knit collation of over one thousand members who were injured or lost a family member(s) because of exposure to the contamination at George AFB.
George AFB – HTRW’s primary function is to act as a watchdog public advocacy group for those who were injured by their exposure to the contamination at George AFB, and to ensure that Veterans and their family members have the necessary documentation of the numerous Completed Exposure Pathways (CEPs) at George AFB so that Veterans can win their VA and Social Security disability case. Through the use of documents obtained and posted on the website and Facebook pages, several members have already won their VA C&P claims for toxic injuries which were the result of exposure to toxins at George. To accomplish this objective, I have filed dozens of FOIA requests and MDRs to get the necessary records declassified, if necessary, and released and published on our website (www.GeorgeAFB.Info).
Our website routinely gets over 10,000 unique visitors a month and has hundreds of articles summarizing records which were released under FOIA, with links to the gigabytes of original documents which were declassified and/or released. The released records and articles are ALWAYS provided for free and NEVER behind a paywall.
Over the years, dozens of newspaper articles have been written about my 1973 accidental radiation exposure “with inhalation and ingestion of the hot particles” in the Southeast Disposal Area (SEDA) at George AFB. In my opinion, this newspaper article is the best researched and written.
See: GAFB [Frank Vera] Airman Exposed to Radiation – 1 July 1994
“A number of former airmen have indicated that nuclear weapons were present on the base in the 1960s and 1970s.” … “some radioactive materials had been buried in the southeast disposal area as well as on the base grounds behind the alert hangar.”
In 1997 I was rated 100 percent disabled by the VA after VA Secretary Jesse Brown intervened on my behalf.
- Jesse Brown, United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs personal interest case – Frank Vera – Los Angeles VARO
“This is a Secretary Brown Interest case.” “Personal Interest of the Secretary – Expedite“ - VA Secretary Jesse Brown / President Clinton’s investigation – Frank Vera – files from the Clinton Library obtained under FOIA
In 1997 after an investigation of my medical care and my C&P claim, VA Secretary Jesse Brown ordered the Los Angeles VARO to award me 70% with Total Disability Based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU). This is equal to a Service Connected Rating Of 100%. Unfortunately, I had already spent the majority of the previous 23 years homeless and hungry. This investigation centered on injury caused by the accident in the Gun Shop in 1973. - At the recommendation of VA Secretary Jesse Brown’s staff, the radiation exposure was not addressed this investigation because there is no rating for an accidental radiation exposure. The only radiation exposure that the VA will acknowledge is Veterans that participated in atmospheric and certain underground nuclear tests; Took part in the American occupation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan; Certain veterans who were POWs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki; or Served at gaseous diffusion plants in Paducah, Ky., Portsmouth, Ohio, and area K25 at Oak Ridge, Tenn. (See: VA Programs For Veterans Exposed To Radiation)
The Air Force by its own admission has no record of all of the radioactive waste locations, or what or how much that was disposed at George AFB. See “Burial of Radioactive Waste in the USAF” – AF – 1972; Nuclear Regulation – “The Military Would Benefit From a Comprehensive Waste Disposal Program” – GAO – 1990; Environmental Cleanup – “Better Data Needed For Radioactively Contaminated Defense Sites” – GAO – 1994; “Lost Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Records” – EPA – 1996
The Air Force admits that it routinely withheld records and information about radioactive waste from regulators, contractors, and the public. See “Buried Radioactive Weapons Maintenance Waste” – Air Force Real Property Agency (AFRPA) – 8 May 2003
The Air Force failed to notify the Veterans Affairs or former base personnel of their exposure to potentially life-threatening environmental contamination at George AFB. See Defense Infrastructure – “DOD Can Improve Its Response to Environmental Exposures on Military Installations” – GAO – May 2012
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